CTG overview:

• CTG staff and support humanitarian projects in fragile and conflict-affected countries around the world, providing a rapid and cost-effective service for development and humanitarian missions. With past performance in 17 countries – from the Middle East, Africa, Europe, and Asia, we have placed more than 20,000 staff all over the world since operations began in 2006.

• CTG recruits, deploys and manages the right people with the right skills to implement humanitarian and development projects, from cleaners to obstetricians, and mechanics to infection specialists, we’re skilled in emergency response to crises such as the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. Key to successful project delivery is the ability to mobilize at speed; CTG can source and deploy anyone, anywhere, in less than 2 weeks and have done so in 48 hours on a number of occasions.

• Through our efficient and agile HR, logistical and operational services, CTG saves multilateral organizations time and money. We handle all our clients’ HR related issues, so they are free to focus on their core services.

• Visit www.ctg.org to find out more

Overview of position: Our client is a global organization dedicated to saving lives, protecting rights & building a better future for refugees, forcibly displaced communities & stateless people. Every year, millions of men, women & children are forced to flee their homes to escape conflict & persecution. Their need for software & information system support continues to grow, as does the need to continuously improve & expand information & communications systems & infrastructure across the organization. Through the pilot project in Ethiopia is seeking to test a particular biometric authentication during distribution processes using Mastercard's Inclusive Identity (hereinafter referred to as “IID”) technology. Through a pilot project in Ethiopia in partnership with Mastercard, our client in Ethiopia is seeking approval for testing biometric authentication during distribution processes using Mastercard's IID technology. Mastercard’s IID solution enables the population of concern to our client (in the frame of this pilot specifically refugees) to verify their identity & to confirm receipt of their entitlements with their biometrics, by showing the authenticating party their face along with their identity credential (in the frame of this pilot specifically their smart card identity document) containing pre captured, tokenized, digital biometric reference data for offline matching on a smartphone or tablet operated by our client / partner staff. Our clients existing solutions authenticate biometrically against non tokenized biometric data held on a server (locally or over the internet) rather than authenticating against tokenized biometric data held on a credential owned by the refugee. The matching process under Mastercard’s IID technology works on commercially available mobile devices (smartphones, tablets), including the Android smartphones already available in the operation in Ethiopia, which is currently using them for the Global Distribution Tool (hereinafter referred to as ‘GDT’). To prevent abuse of or unauthorized access to the biometric reference data embedded in refugee identity documents, prior saving, Mastercard’s IID application will use a one way data transformation function to convert the biometric template to an irreversible identity token, which then will be digitally signed. The pilot project has the following objectives:

• Authentication using biometric features (i.e. face) in online & offline environments running on commercially available non proprietary smartphones or tablets, whenever needed for integrity checks during service delivery processes (i.e., upon entry to the distribution site & at each distribution point), without access to & data exchange required with a central data base.

• As part of quality control, add a layer of verification enabling refugees to acknowledge with their biometrics receipt of assistance to validate relevant transactions.

• Strengthen integrity & accountability in the distribution process without compromising the protection of sensitive personal information which may otherwise happen through sharing unencrypted data with the government entities of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (hereinafter referred to as ‘govt.’) involved in the distribution process.

• Empower refugees to be able to demonstrate anywhere that our client / RRS issued smart cards belong to the rightful individual (smart card holder) following a successful 1:1 biometric verification against identity token(s) stored within our client / RRS issued identity document.

• Provide learnings on potential future developments of our clients digital identification systems, including using new approaches to mainstream end user research as part of development & roll out & potentially testing & piloting human rights due diligence approaches.

A Solutions Architect is sought to design, provide technical oversight during the development & testing of the different solution components for the pilot implementation of the Mastercard’s IID solution & developing a blueprint for future integration into our clients Population, Registration & Identity Management Ecosystem (PRIMES). PRIMES is comprised of a suite of software applications that manage our clients refugee facing protection work including registration, digital identity management, protection case management, assistance & solutions.

The Solutions Architect is expected to:

• Analyze the current approach for the pilot implementation constrained by the requirement to limit impact on the core PRIMES applications.

• Review the current & planned development activities under PRIMES, specifically progress v4 (move to the cloud project currently underway), Biometric Identity Management System (BIMS) & GDT, assess dependencies / constraints / opportunities & develop a blueprint for future integration while identifying changes required in those applications.

• Propose an end state solution (secure, agreements based, with user driven configuration) through a documented analysis, recommendations & integration definitions.

• Maintain active communication with & work alongside crucial cross-functional teams (e.g., business analysis team, solution engineering team) to ensure the successful & timely delivery of key project outputs.

• Monitor project milestones against the agreed timeline established in the project plan & maintain accurate project documentation.

Design an architecture & provide technical oversight during the development & testing of:

• Credential issuance app: Development of an enrolment app to capture the facial image of the beneficiary, convert the facial image into an identity token using Mastercard’s IID SDK & write the identity token onto a smart chip embedded in the refugee’s smart card using NFC technology issued by our client / RRS.

• Modifications to the GDT mobile app: As the current GDT web application is not fully compatible with the mobile devices & missing integration with MC IID, the current GDT mobile app requires further development to ensure full compatibility with mobile devices & integration with MC IID to be able to verify a live capture of the facial image of the card holder against the identity token embedded in the smart chip on the card.

Project reporting:

• Reporting against assigned deliverables & progress weekly with the Senior Solutions Engineer - PRIMES, DIST, under the overall direction of the Project Manager in Ethiopia. It is expected that the s / he will work closely with key staff & partner stakeholders such as the Solution Engineer, the Ethiopia Country Office & Sub Office, Mastercard & UNECA as well as Reginal Bureau & HQ counterparts. In addition, s / he will work with other project steering committees, stakeholders, Workstream Leads, Solution Architects, external managed service providers & suppliers to ensure business requirements are met.

Job Requirements

Key competencies:

• Advanced University Degree in ICT, Computer Science, or a related subject.

• A minimum of 8 years of ICT experience, including 5 years’ experience in software architecture at the solution level.

• Extensive experience with .NET & mobile application development.

• Demonstrated experience in the design, development & implementation of various integrations between diverse infrastructure services.

• Demonstrated experience with the IT systems development life cycle (SDLC), as well as Agile / Scrum methodologies & ITIL processes.

• Ability to conduct requirements gathering, interpret needs & design solutions & manage expectations.

• Knowledge of data management & applications software to assess & provide advice on how software / hardware issues relate to data organization & design.

• Knowledge of database development methodology, programming languages, database concepts, data types, data dictionaries & data storage & retrieval techniques.

• Ability to interpret & apply directives, standards, policies & guidelines governing software development & application lifecycle management.

• Experience with Microsoft Azure.

• Experience with using DevOps practices for application lifecycle management including requirements gathering, software development, code repository, test management & CI / CD pipelines.

• Experience working as part of a distributed team.

• Excellent written & spoken English.

• Excellent overall communication, facilitation & interpersonal skills.

• Excellent organizational skills, reporting & documenting.

• Familiarity with Microsoft Dynamics CRM (online & on premises)

• Experience with integration platforms.

• Knowledge of a second UN language, an asset.

Team management:

• This role has no team management responsibility.

Further information:

• Qualified female candidates are encouraged to apply for this role.

How to Apply

Register using the following LINK